Earth's Light
by Admiral Valerian
Summary: It has been centuries since a space-faring species has been encountered by the Council. The challenges are great, but the Spirit of Man shall not be broken. AU. [DISCONTINUED]


Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, and this work is merely a creative and absolutely non-commercial exercise on my part.

The First Contact War

"Deploy the ECM and the ECCM…" the captain ordered. "…activate the beam deflectors and standby on all weapons. Launch all combat craft." The two heavy cruisers and the four cruisers' particle cannons swivelled and locked onto the Turian ships slowly advancing along a steady front towards Shanxi while attack craft launched into space.

"Captain, we've detected incoming ordnance from the enemy fleet." A crewman reported, causing the captain to tense. To his and the rest of the bridge crew's surprise, the enemy's shots passed through their formation without hitting a single ship, although they quickly sobered at the thought that those missed shots would be hitting the planet behind them. "Captain, the enemy fleet's primary weapons appear to be some sort of rail-gun. Our beam deflectors would be ineffective."

"Understood…" the captain replied before dramatically waving an arm to emphasize his next orders. "…shut down the beam deflectors, and divert power to the main guns to speed up the charge cycles. Aim the beam cannons at the enemy fleet and fire!"

The six-ship squadron opened fire, targeting their Turian counterparts. To say the Turians were surprised would be an understatement; for the Citadel races, directed-energy weapons were largely considered impractical (apart from GARDIAN defence lasers) and the focus of weapons development was concentrated on improving the range and efficiency of mass accelerator weaponry. The Turian fleet was composed of one dreadnought, six cruisers, and eighteen frigates. The first salvo crippled four cruisers and outright destroyed two, effectively breaking the back of the Turian fleet sent to Shanxi, and repaying them for the destruction of the survey ships destroyed a week earlier.

The Turians recovered from their surprise quickly, the dreadnought and its escort screen quickly initiating evasive manoeuvres while most of their frigates used a pinpoint FTL jump to close with the Human warships. But the Humans weren't idle either, their ships already engaging evasive manoeuvres even as the Turian frigates jumped and launched mass disruptor torpedoes. And once again the Turians were surprised, when their torpedoes were intercepted by relatively primitive solid-ammo automatic weapons. It was unthinkable; a space-faring species had apparently done the impossible – employ efficient energy weapons en masse on their ships – but still used such archaic weapons for point-defence.

Still, several torpedoes hit their mark, damaging a heavy cruiser and a cruiser, and disabling one more cruiser. "Defence Group, move to intercept." The operations officer on the flagship ordered as the Turian frigates launched a second wave of torpedoes. "Attack Group, commence counterattack." The Human fighters deployed towards the Turian frigates, some moving to intercept the enemy torpedoes, while other moved to counterattack.

The Human fighters were armed with a mix of high-explosive missiles, machine cannons, and particle cannons. The missiles proved ineffective against the Turian shields while the particle cannons were ineffective against the heavy ablative armour of the Turian warships; apparently, only the heavy particle cannons mounted on warships had the firepower to cut through in one hit and cause enough damage to be effective. The Turians fired back, only to find their GARDIAN lasers useless; unknown to the Turians, one reason the Humans made extensive use of particle beams was – energy considerations aside (particle beams were more energy-efficient than lasers) – because of advanced chemical coating technology that all but rendered laser weaponry useless.

The Human warships launched their own missiles to support their fighters, only to find their missiles getting shot down by GARDIAN lasers or exploding harmlessly against their shields. The dreadnought fired again, and this time succeeded in hitting the disabled cruiser, destroying it in a fiery explosion. "Signal all ships…" the task force commander ordered, angered by the callous destruction of a disabled vessel. "…target the enemy flagship and fire."

All the remaining Human ships fired at the Turian dreadnought, which was largely unable to evade thanks to its large mass. By ill fortune, one of the Human particle beams cored the dreadnought's reactor section, immolating the giant vessel. The loss of their flagship proved enough to break the Turians, something that had never happened since the Krogan Rebellion. The frigates immediately backed off and retreated via FTL, leaving the crippled cruisers on their own. As the Human ships closed in, the crews waited for the killing blow.

To their surprise, the Humans did no such thing, although the temptation was strong given the Turians' recent actions. Instead, the Humans hacked the cruisers computers and extracted not just strategic and tactical data, but also information on the Turians' language and culture. Five hours later, the Turians received a message in their own language promising respect and good treatment if they surrendered. Stranded and at the mercy of their enemies, the Turian crews surrendered.

* * *

The next engagement of the First Contact War took place a month later at the system of Tarik, and one month and two weeks after a Turian patrol destroyed a civilian survey force that the Turians had 'caught' performing an unauthorized activation of a primary relay.

Tarik itself was uninhabitable, but it was the site of a massive fleet base protected by a pair of armoured battle stations holding entire squadrons of combat craft. At the beginning of the battle, the Turians had assembled fully a third of their entire space navy at Tarik in preparation for a full-scale invasion of Human space, when automated sensor drones stationed at the system's relay reported the arrival of automated recon drones. The Turian fleet immediately prepared for battle, and as expected, two hours later the Human fleet arrived through the mass relay where they shortly regrouped (after destroying the communication buoys and sensor drones) before jumping via FTL to engage the Turians.

The Turians had twelve dreadnoughts in-system, along with seventy-two cruisers and over two hundred frigates, supported by an estimated two hundred combat craft. On the other hand, the Humans had six battleships, twelve heavy cruisers, and forty-eight cruisers, along with an estimated seven hundred combat craft. The two fleets quickly engaged each other on relatively equal terms. The superior numbers of Turian warships being negated by Human beam weaponry, advanced stealth, as well as their smaller size: a Human cruiser was only the size of a galactic frigate, a Human heavy cruiser somewhere between a galactic frigate and a cruiser, while a Human battleship was the size of a galactic cruiser. Their smaller size gave them the advantage of mobility, which along with the Humans' larger numbers of combat craft (who by this point had discovered that repeated assaults from their beam cannons could eventually wear away at the Turians' ablative armour) went a long way to balancing the numbers.

However, as the two fleets bled away at each other, the balance slowly began to shift in favour of the Turians, who countered the Humans' mobility and advanced stealth by forming a globe around the Human warships and firing at them from multiple directions. At the same time, the Human fighter pilots found to their chagrin that even their chemical coating would eventually prove ineffective against multiple laser impacts which cumulatively had the power to power through the chemical coating.

But unknown to the Turians, the Humans had predicted this. The earlier deployment of recon drones actually had the secondary purpose of drawing attention away from heavy-stealth ships that were tasked with quickly assembling a pre-fabricated solar reflector. It was the completion of this weapon that had finally signalled the commencement of the Human attack, and while the two fleets duelled, the solar reflector had slowly but steadily moved into firing position along the Humans' left flank. Composed of two hundred and fifty thousand synchronized and computer-controlled mirrors, the solar reflector aimed and aligned for just an instant…but that single instant was enough to cut a swathe of destruction through the Turian lines, causing serious damage to the orbiting fleet base and destroying one of the battle stations.

Among the ships destroyed had been the Turian flagship; as the Turian ships milled in confusion, the Humans signalled their willingness to allow the Turians to retreat from the battlefield. In response, the Turians merely reformed their formation, and pressed the assault on the Humans, who now faced them on relatively equal numbers, and with the advantage thanks to their beam weapons against which the Turian shields were of no defence. A large force of Turian warships moved to attack the reflector, only to be delayed by a Human flank action and subsequently destroyed when the reflector fired again, destroying the last battle station. Despite their losses, the Turians refused to surrender or to retreat, and were wiped out to the last ship.

The Human fleet proceeded to destroy the unprotected fleet base, before initiating emergency repairs (and scuttling irreparably damaged vessels) and rendezvousing with their other forces. All in all, while the Turian losses at Tarik were total, the Humans had lost one battleship, six heavy cruisers and sixteen cruisers, along with an estimated five hundred combat craft.

* * *

At the same time, a force of three cruisers and one heavy cruiser arrived at a nearby system one of whose gas giants was orbited by a strategically-positioned fuel refining station. The station was unarmed, and the four warships halted their advance shortly before entering range of their weapons, although their fighters did a flyby. "This is Captain Hildegard of the FSS Osaka." The captain of the heavy cruiser broadcast to the station, the transmission automatically translated into Turian standard. "I request an immediate discussion with your executive officer to discuss terms of surrender."

After ten minutes with no response, Hild bristled. "Activate laser designators…" she ordered. "…and repeat the previous broadcast."

Less than a minute after the laser designators had been activated, a transmission was finally received from the station, the image of a Turian appearing on a monitor in the Osaka's bridge. "I am Overseer Kirias; name your terms, alien." The Turian introduced himself, the ship's computer automatically translating his words.

"Greetings overseer…" the captain said politely. "…I am prepared to offer you and your men one standard hour to evacuate the space station. I assume you have FTL-capable craft with aboard; assuming you do, our fighters will escort you to a safe distance for an FTL jump to friendly territory."

"Your generous offer notwithstanding, captain…" the alien challenged. "…what guarantees do we have that we will not be shot down by your forces? What are your intentions for our refinery? If you intend to use it against our people, then we would sooner to see this station reduced to atoms!"

"Overseer, I would appreciate it if you do not question my honour and the integrity of the Earth Federation Forces." Hild growled back at the overseer. "We do not open fire on civilians, nor on retreating or helpless vessels, as your forces have demonstrated in the past. I give you my word as a soldier that your ships will not be fired upon should you choose to leave peacefully. As for your refinery, we too seek its destruction, but seeing as it is a civilian facility, I have decided to attempt to find a less bloody route to its destruction."

The overseer locked eyes with the captain for a moment before responding. "And what if we lack FTL-capable ships?"

"Then you may choose to stay in-system until help arrives, or you may surrender your persons to us and be taken to a secure location."

The overseer sighed then turned back to the captain. "Very well, please give me five minutes to discuss the situation with my men."

"I give ten minutes." The captain replied, before signalling the communication line to be cut. Ten minutes later, the line was reopened from the Turian side, and the overseer resumed his discussion with the captain.

"Captain, we accept your offer to surrender the station however we would like to confirm its destruction before we leave the system."

"As you wish…" Hild replied dismissively. "…you have one hour to evacuate."

Although Hild had given the Turians an hour to evacuate, the refinery's sole ship launched after forty minutes. Once the overseer had confirmed that no Turians were left aboard (something confirmed by the Human sensors), the Human ships launched their missiles and destroyed the station. Once the nuclear fireball had faded away, the Turians were escorted to a safe distance by the Human fighters from where they launched an FTL jump. The Human ships then recalled all their combat craft before they too left the system via FTL.

* * *

At the same time as the other mentioned events of the Human counterattack, another force of Human ships composed of three heavy cruisers and six cruisers entered the inhabited Turian system of Karis. With the bulk of the Turian forces in the region gathered at Tarik, the only forces capable of resisting the Humans were one cruiser and four frigates…which immediately retreated rather than face the Human vessels. The Humans immediately entered orbit, seizing control of Karis' orbital facilities and taking control of the planet's airspace.

The ruling council immediately made preparations for an invasion, even more so after an even larger fleet (the same one that had crushed the Turians at Tarik). But to their surprise, the Humans seemed content to blockade the planet from high orbit, and monitoring any and all communications coming to and from the planet.

* * *

A week had passed since the Humans had blockaded Karis and annihilated the Turians at Tarik. The Council was in emergency session, the Asari and Salarians still seeking to consider a possible diplomatic solution given the apparent advanced state of this new race, but with the Turians having suffered the biggest military defeats in their history since the Krogan Rebellion, the Turian Hierarchy had gone up in flames. Their shipyards and industries were already being retooled for full wartime production, and reserves were being called up. The associate races were pressing for the Asari and the Salarians to restrain the Turians, fearing the potential catastrophes inherent in an interstellar war. More to the point, the Terminus Systems could easily be drawn into the mess, given the fact that this new race was technically part of the Terminus Systems. Lawless and anarchic though they may be, none could argue the fact that the Terminus Systems always looked after themselves, especially against encroachment from the Citadel Council.

The Council was in emergency session for the eight day running when the Citadel Fleet detected an unscheduled arrival from one of the mass relays around the Citadel. Before the Matriarch commanding the Destiny Ascension could ponder the situation, an entire fleet emerged from the relay, their designs largely unfamiliar but recognizable from the images taken by the Turians during their repelled incursion across the Relay 314 pair: Humans.

The Human fleet quickly formed up and advanced on the Citadel, their forces composed of sixteen battleships, thirty-two heavy cruisers, and over a hundred cruisers. Halting their advance shortly before they came in range of the Citadel Fleet, the fleet commander immediately sent a message requesting that the Council grant an audience to a Federation peace envoy. Fifteen minutes later, a shuttle was being escorted from the Human fleet to the Citadel.

* * *

"Greetings Councillors…" Ambassador Minerva greeted the Council and by extension the ambassadors of the associate races as she took the podium. "…I have come on behalf of the people of Earth to negotiate a ceasefire and to arrange further negotiations in pursuit of a diplomatic solution to our recent…conflict."

Councillor Sparatus was about to respond with a scathing comment when Councillor Tevos silenced him with a look. "Greetings Ambassador…" she returned the greeting cautiously. "…it is good to see that your people are willing to find a peaceful solution, but your means of coming to the Citadel are rather…forceful."

Ambassador Minerva smiled and briefly looked out to space where the EFF was holding position before the Citadel Fleet. "Yes, but considering the gravity of the situation, the Assembly believed it best that we give the impression of being prepared to use the iron hand should the velvet glove prove useless."

Councillor Valern nodded in approval. "A most interesting figure of speech Ambassador, but it describes a wise and calculated move by your government. What are your terms, Ambassador?"

"As per a ceasefire, no further offensive actions will be undertaken by either side." The woman immediately said. "Furthermore, peace negotiations must be held at a neutral location as soon as possible. The Earth Federation is also willing to release all but the highest-ranking prisoners as a gesture of good faith."

"Those terms are quite generous, Ambassador." Councillor Tevos replied. "But regarding contested territories…"

"Our forces will remain in position until a peace accord can be hammered out." The Ambassador said firmly. "Rest assured, we will not demand the transfer of territory from the Turian Hierarchy."

"I should hope not…" Councillor Sparatus muttered.

"However, it should be noted that we will be demanding reparations for destroyed vessels and fallen soldiers…" the Ambassador continued, before being interrupted by Councillor Sparatus.

"Reparations; the Hierarchy will in no way be paying indemnities over an incident sparked by your violations of our ban on unauthorized activations of primary relays!" the Turian exploded loudly.

"A ban which we in the Federation were completely unaware of…" The Ambassador noted coolly, staring down the Turian and impressing Councillor Tevos – this woman was not to be trifled with. "…and in any case your forces fired first, and on civilian vessels as well."

"You have a fair point, Ambassador..." the Asari Councillor conceded with a nod. "…but perhaps your species could have been more prudent regarding first contact?"

"The Federation is quite confident in its military's ability to defend our sovereignty…" the woman replied, with a smirk directed at the Turian Councillor. "…a belief that has recently been vindicated."

Councillor Sparatus was about to give a sharp reply only to be cut off by Councillor Valern. "Yes, your forces have proven quite formidable indeed. Your government's belief is well-proven, though I dare say a prolonged war would not be in our best interests."

"True…" the Ambassador conceded. "…however, we can discuss all this further at the peace summit. Nevertheless, with the current state of affairs, you may be pleased to learn that the Federation has placed a halt on all exploratory operations in the foreseeable future."

"I believe a ceasefire is in the best interests of the galaxy." Councillor Tevos finally said after a long moment, before looking at her fellow Councillors. Valern nodded in agreement, though Sparatus remained stony-faced and glared at the Human before giving nodding as well. "However, I believe it would be best for all present to adjourn for a brief recess before we discuss the nature of the upcoming peace summit."

"Very well, Councillor."

* * *

Two days after the EFF's arrival at the Citadel, a ceasefire was declared and immediately enforced between the Earth Federation and the Turian Hierarchy. A month later a peace summit was held in neutral territory at the Salarian Union and after six months a peace treaty was signed, ending the First Contact War. The territorial sovereignty of both the Federation and the Hierarchy as it was prior to the conflict was recognized, with the latter being forced by the Council to pay reparations to the Federation for its extreme method of prosecuting Council policy against a newly encountered space-faring race.

The Federation would also sign and ratify the Treaty of Farixen and the Citadel Conventions, much to the surprise and discomfort of the associate races, especially as it was an open secret that with the Federation's advanced technology, the former would not truly restrain Humanity's fleets. Furthermore, unknown to both the Council and the associate races, the Federation was already developing WMDs to fully exploit the limits and loopholes of the Citadel Conventions.

* * *

A/N

The EFF (Earth Federation Fleet) doesn't use kinetic barriers for ships because most anti-ship weapons are particle beams. They have beam deflectors to defend against beam attacks, but those would obviously be of no use against solid weapons.

Some of you might notice the fighting mostly takes place in space. I agree, because the Federation is actually at a disadvantage on the ground because while their vehicles have energy shielding and particle weaponry (among other things), their infantry actually has poorer equipment than the Council/Terminus (no shields or kinetic accelerators). The EFF realized this from those captured Turian ships at Shanxi, and as such made no effort to land troops on Turian soil.


End file.
